A Subject of Memory
by UnknownUnseenUnheard
Summary: Four Aliens and a Baby AU. Tess betrayed them all, right? The more Max thinks about it, the more he notices that things simply do not add up. So, when Tess returns, half dead and carrying his son, he confronts her directly. The result is not what he expected.
1. Questions

A/N: First of, Tess was, in Kyle's words, my favorite Martian. Michael was a close second. Personally, I think the producers of Roswell just butchered her character in an attempt to get rid of her quickly and go back to the Max/Liz bandwagon. They could have gone another way with the whole arangment, but the way they did was not only littered with plot holes, but plain destroyed Tess in the process.

Hence, I came up with this story to tie together all those loose plot holes together. A few are mentioned directly in this chapter.

Starts of during _Four Aliens and a Baby. _

Also, this is not a Rebel fic. Or a Dreamer fic, for that matter. Yes, romance will be tossed in somewhere. But it is not the main plot line of the story. Shutting up now. Adios.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Questions**

As the video played out, all Max and Isabel could do was stare. Max felt sick in his stomach as he watched a whirlwind of objects swirl around his sister in endless arcs. The dark feeling in the pit of his stomach was nothing compared to Isabel, who felt a sharp shard of betrayal entering her heart.

They spied on her.

Her parents _spied_ on her, and put a camera in her room.

It was all she could do to keep herself from causing a similar situation from repeating itself around her now.

Jesse shook his head and looked away, knowing it would end like this. The fact that Max and Isabel had managed to keep this secret from their parents for so long in and of itself was amazing.

Max turned to give Isabel a look to see how she was reacting to this. She was frozen, stock still and locked in shock.

"I... oh, God, I can't believe that you spied on me." Isabel gasped, before she stood and made her way towards her brother. He was her home. He was her comfort. And now he was where she would turn. Not her husband, but her brother. She stopped behind his chair, her back to everyone. She couldn't look at them, not yet.

She didn't want to see the look in the eyes of her parents that outright screamed_ FREAK!_ She just could not deal with that.

"I'm sorry, honey, but we didn't know what else to do!" Diane Evans defended her actions.

"Can you please just tell us... what this means?" Philip spoke, his voice slightly awed and curious. "Who are you?"

Max slowly stood, facing his parents. Like Jesse, he knew this secret couldn't have lasted forever. That would have been impossible, especially with his father digging and investigating like crazy. Still, he'd hoped the secret had lasted longer. Isabel turned as well, both of them standing next to one another, staring up at the humans that raised them.

"We're your kids." Max answered without hesitation.

"Are you?" Philip asked.

Isabel barely controlled the flinch that threatened to break through. "Yes!" she exclaimed. Fear filled her, pumping in her veins. What if they rejected them? What if they hated them?

Suddenly, there was the sound of pots clanking coming from the kitchen. Max and Isabel instantly looked up, battle instincts kicking in.

"What was that?" Diane turned.

Max and Isabel exchanged looks.

"...I'll check it out." Max spoke.

Isabel shot him a short glare. "Thanks a lot, Max..." she muttered under her breath and he moved off, leaving her standing there alone.

Mac walked cautiously towards the kitchen. Finding it empty, he turned to go back to the living room. Then, he heard it. A voice he thought he'd never hear again, a voice that occasionally intruded his dreams and at times his nightmares.

"Max..." it croaked. Weak. Tired.

Max turned around, his eyes opening wide as saucers as he took in the ragged appearance of Tess, staggering slowly towards him, carrying a small baby in her arms.

"Tess..." Max blinked up at her, not sure if what he was seeing was real or not. She'd left, months ago, taking his son with her. Yet here she was, standing before him holding the very child she had claimed could not survive in this environment.

Struggling for breath, she reached him, holding out the baby.

"Please... Hold him..." she rasped out. With a last breath, she managed to hand the baby over to Max, before collapsing to the ground with a final shudder. Max didn't even notice, his eyes instead locked on the child he was currently holding. The baby gurgled as the others entered the kitchen.

"Max... What is it?" Philip asked.

Max, eyes still locked on the baby, spoke in amazement. "It's my son..."

* * *

Max stood over Tess, watching her. He frowned slightly as he watched her twist on the bed, in his sheets, her frow covered in sweat and her face twisted in discomfort. He wasn't sure how to feel about this girl.

In another life, he had loved her.

In this life, she had betrayed them. Or, at the very least, _claimed_ to have betray them. Max narrowed his eyes slightly. After Tess had left, shooting off into the stars Max had been left barely holding it together and trying to figure out where everything went wrong.

Nothing added up and, as time progressed, it became even more confusing.

First of all, it was physically impossible for Nasado to have made the deal Tess claimed he had made with Kivar. Second, if Nasedo had made said deal, why would the Skins have killed him, and why would he have bothered using his final breath to warn Max? Of course, one could argue that it might have been part of the plan all along but the fact still remained that Nasedo had warned him. Add the whole Congresswoman Whitaker kidnapping and torturing Tess to the arrangement, and the whole elaborate plot seemed just a bit too elaborate.

Tess began to shift on the bed slowly. Max narrowed his eyes into slits. Even if he had his doubts about what had really happened, there was one thing he was certain off: he did not trust her.

Tess' eyes snapped open suddenly as she began to look around her. "Zan! Where's Zan?!" she exclaimed before her eyes shot up towards Max, who blinked down at her, momentarily stunned. It seemed Tess would never cease to surprise him as long as she lived, Max silently thought to himself before speaking up.

"You named the baby Zan?"

"Well, he is your son, and that is your real name. Where is he?" Tess replied impatiently, her eyes searching around the room for any sign of her baby, even glancing once at Max as if he was hiding the baby behind his back. Paranoid mother indeed.

"In the other room, with his very confused grandparents." as soon as the words leave his lips, she jumps and makes a beeline for the door. Max flares and, with a wave of his hand slams the door shut seconds after she opens it.

"Sit. Down." he growls at her, and is satisfied when he sees the glint of fear in her eyes.

Tess motioned towards her injured leg, looking up at her captor. "I guess it would be too much to ask you to heal this?" she tries for the humor. It doesn't take.

"Making you feel better isn't one of my priorities." Max ignored the way his voice slightly cracked as the words left his lips. Standing before him was killer, someone he had trusted, someone he had cared for- someone that had betrayed him. The mother of his child. That and that alone kept him from disintegrating her on the spot.

"Okay..." Tess agrees amiably enough as she makes her way to the other side of the room, sitting down on the bed and staring up defiantly. As if she's innocent. As if she's done nothing wrong. As if she didn't kill Alex and attempt to lead Max, Isabel, and Michael all to their deaths. " I'm sure you've got a lot on your mind, so let's hear it."

The casual tone only serves to infuriate him even more. Although, Max supposes, compared to Kivar he doubts he's really that menacing. Kivar managed to get into Isabel's head, turn her against them on a whim- while being literally _lightyears_ away.

"I thought our baby couldn't survive in Earth's atmosphere. I felt that when I connected with him." is the first thing that he questions. After all, the baby looks just fine to him.

"It was a mind warp. Something I needed you to believe." Tess answers, shrugging it off. Max gave a sarcastic disgusted snort at the response. "I had to do whatever it took to get you to activate the Granilith." she explained

Max stares at her for several seconds, titling his head to the side, examining her. He continues to penetrate her with his glare until the seconds bleed to minutes and Tess begins to squirm slightly.

Then, finally, he asks the one question that has been bothering him since the moment she left all those months ago.

"Did you really kill Alex?"

From her reaction, that was obviously not the question she was expecting him to ask. She blinked up at him in shock and, for a moment, he saw a flash of guilt pass those emotionless eyes.

"I didn't mean-" Tess began.

"Did you, or did you not, kill him. Simple question, Tess." Max interrupted. He was through playing games. At the moment, he wasn't Max Evans, the teenage boy Philip and Diane Evans had raised. At the moment, he was Zan, King of Antar, and he was royally pissed.

"You already know the answer to that, Max." Tess replied.

"Damn it Tess, yes or no! Just answer the question!" Max yelled.

"You want to hear how I killed him? Fine! I killed him! I killed Alex! I got in his head, broke his mind, and I _killed_ him!"

Somewhere in the middle of their short lived screaming match, the two hybrids had ended up in each others faces, Max glaring down at her and Tess glaring up, both their chests heaving.

"Why don't I believe you?" Max whispered so low she almost didn't catch it, his eyes narrowed slightly as confusion marred his face. Tess blinked. Again, that had not been the response she had been expecting.

There was a loud clang that signaled someone had dropped something, causing them to glance at the door. Max gulped slightly. He'd forgotten their little audience. He half expected Isabel to tear down that door, but, as she had promised him, she stayed back.

Max was pretty sure that, had the situation been reversed, he wouldn't have had the strength to pull that one off. It was moments like this that he truly did admire his twin sister.

Tess sighed loudly, turning and making her way back to bed. Ignoring the pain in her leg, she sat down again, looking up towards Max.

"Happy now?" she questioned.

"No." was the quick response before Max made his way to his dresser. Tess watched in curiosity as Max fished out a notebook, flipping it open and turning to her.

"What's that?" Tess asked.

"A list."

"Of?"

"Of things that don't add up."

Max tossed her the notebook. Tess reached for it, but it slipped past her fingers. Annoyed, she reached and winced when it strained at her leg. Picking up the notebook, she glanced at Max's so called list.

_Number One: Hair. How did the creators of the book of Destiny know what kind of hairstyles we'd have in the future?_

Tess blinked. Huh. She hadn't noticed that, but now that she thought about it, it was pretty weird. She looked up to see Max staring at her expectantly.

"Well?" he asked.

"Antarian Seer?" Tess guessed. "Our species are known to have mind powers, Max. It isn't that far fetched to assume whoever wrote the book could see into the future."

Max frowned. he supposed that could be possible. That, or Tess and Nasado planted the book after the fact, which had personally been his guess. But, from the look on Tess' face, she was as baffled by it as he was. Then again, Tess wasn't known for her honesty. Quite the opposite, really.

"Read the next one." Mac commanded.

Tess sighed and looked down.

_Number Two: Nasado. As a shapeshifter, he was bound not just to my will, but to Michael and Isabel's as well. How could he have possibly made a deal with Kivar if he is literally programmed to follow our every command?_

Tess rolled her eyes at that one. Couldn't he ask these out loud? Glancing up at him, she answered. "Nasado may have been bound to your will, but, unless given a direct order, he could do whatever the hell he wanted to do. Including making a deal with Kivar. You imprisoned his entire species in your past life, Max. He wasn't too fond of you."

Slavery? Max reeled back at that one. Whoever Zan had been, Max didn't like it. He supposed that one should have been self-evident, though. Kal beat the crap out of Max before Max discovered his miraculous power to make Kal his bitch.

"Next one." Max motioned to the paper.

Tess sighed. This was ridiculous. But, at least Max wasn't trying to blow her up, she decided. Looking down, she continued reading.

_Number Three: The Skins. If Nasado really made a deal with them, why did they kill him? If the Skins really made a deal with Tess and Nasado, why did Whitaker torture Tess? In Arizona, why didn't Tess simply turn on us, instead of helping me power my shield? When Courtney turned on the other Skins, why didn't she say anything about Tess being a traitor?_

Tess looked at the stream of questions incredulously, before looking back up at her captor. "That's more than one, you know." she told him blandly.

"Then answer them one at a time." Max growled out.

Tess resisted the urge to groan in exasperation. "Nasado had no emotions. You did that to him. Adding his own death to the plot would have made me more believable." Tess said, before looking down again and continuing, ignoring the look of disgust Max was shooting her. "Same thing for the whole torture plot. Except, Whitaker wasn't suppose to die. I helped you in Arizona because I wasn't pregnant yet. Couldn't let you die before that. As for Courtney, she was a reject long before we came in the picture. She was never in the loop."

Max had to resist the urge to strangle her. That mind warping evil little... He frowned again. Something still felt off. Tess had an answer for absolutely everything. His eyes narrowed again, feeling the whole thing was a little too convenient for his comfort.

"Read the next one." he barked out instead.

Tess glanced down at the notebook, still acting as if she had done nothing wrong. What kind of soulless monster did he fall for in his past life?

_Number Four: Mindwarping. Tess can put images in people's heads, but can she make them do things? She projects images, not thoughts..._

Tess blinked. That wasn't a question. It was a statement. She looked up. "Of course I can put thoughts into your head, Max." she rolled her eyes at him. She'd of thought that one would have been obvious a long time ago.

"Can you?" Max countered, crossing his arms and giving her a defiant look. Tess narrowed her own eyes. What was he playing at? She was sure he was trying to lead her up to something, but what she couldn't say.

"Yes. We've already established that..." Tess spoke slowly, as if talking to a child. Max flared slightly, hating the tone. How dare she speak to him like that?

"Read the next one." he snapped.

Tess looked down.

_Number Five: The Granolith. If Tess was really working against us from the beginning, why not just hand the Granolith over to the Skins the second we found it?_

Tess actually laughed at that one before looking up. "Hand over the Granolith and loose my only bargaining chip? Before I made sure you knocked me up?"

"Next." was his only response. Without a word, she obeyed. Best not to test an angry furious former ruler of an entire planet, Tess thought.

_Number Six. Pregnancy. If the entire point of last year was just some elaborate plot for Tess to get pregnant, why not simply capture me and steal a sperm sample? After all, our species are capable of great genetic feets. The fact that I'm breathing is proof enough._

"Such an heir would have never been accepted by the people.. Think, Max, before asking stupid-" Tess didn't get to finish, because, with a wave of his hand, Max had flung her clear across the room and pinned her to a wall. The rage coming off him was tangible. Unconsciously, he was raising the damn heat.

"I am your_ king,_ and you will talk to me with respect. Understood?"

Tess shuddered at the menacing tone. She couldn't help it. The Max she had left behind was good and sweet and kind. The Max she had come back to was rough and hard and scared by grief and betrayal. And, he was terrifying.

"Understand?" he repeated.

Tess could only nod. Max let her drop before picking up the notebook and tossing it to her. "Next question."

_Number Seven: Alex. Two months in Las Cruces, decoding the Book. Tess doesn't have that kind of mind power. Hell, she can barely hold a good illusion for long. So, how exactly did she pull that one off?_

Tess glanced up.

"I mindwarped him. You already know that, Max."

"For two whole months."

"Yes."

"For two entire months, you mindwarped him all on your own."

"Yes."

"While he was hundreds of miles away, nonstop, for two whole months..."

"What is this really about, Max?"

"This is about you _lying_ to me, again! Just tell me the truth for once in your miserable life!"

Tess jumped up, flaring at him.

"I already told you! I mindwarped Alex into decoding the damn book, and the strain was too much for his mind, and it killed him!"

"You don't have the power to mindwarp someone for that long across that distance, so tell who did!"

"No one else on this planet can mindwarp Max! Honestly, what is this about? Because I know it isn't about Alex!"

"It has _everything_ to do with him!"

Tess actually laughed at this. Neither noticed the whirlwind of objects flying around them, the hole in the wall, or the debris all around them.

"This has _nothing_ to do with him! You're just pissed off because you were wrong about me! Well, guess what, _Zan_, I'm not your precious Elizabeth Parker! I'm not perfect! I made a mistake, I messed up, and I killed him!"

"You're lying!"

"For the last fucking time, I am not-"

"You don't know, do you?"

His accusation cut clean across the air, leaving her silent. There was a sudden crash as all the objects floating around them fell with a clash, breaking all over the room. In the background, Max could hear Isabel trying to calm his parents down who, for obvious reasons, were freaking out in the other room.

"I told you-" Tess growled, baring her teeth like some kind of crazed animal.

"You don't know. You don't know who messed with Alex's head. You don't know who set him to Las Cruces."

"Damn it, Max! You were wrong about me! Just accept the fact that I'm a mindwarping bitch that came in and ruined all your lives!"

"Then tell me who sent Alex to Las Cruxes!"

"I did! I already- I... I..." Tess began to shake, backing up slowly, gripping at her head as it exploded in pain. But Max's eyes weren't locked on her face, or her pain, or anything else along those lines.

They were locked onto her left hand as it tapped away against Tess' leg...

Then, quick as a cobra, Max struck as his lips meshed to hers in a passionate dance. There was lust, and just a touch of the love the two had shared in a past life, but that wasn't what it was about, even as they ate at each other's faces, as her arms wrapped around his neck and his around her waist.

Tess realized that quickly and pulled away as if burned, but it was too late.

Max had made the connection and, in her agitate state, with her defenses down, he'd seen into her mind, into her memories. Tess backed away and glanced up at him with a tinge of fear as realization, followed by anger, founded themselves on the former king's face as a cold fury overtook him.

Because, he now knew, without a doubt, that it hadn't been Tess that had dealt the final blow that ended the life of Alex Whitman.


	2. Epiphany

A/N: I edited the end of the other chapter slightly. However, I added it here in a flashback for all of you.

Thanks to all who have favorited and/or followed this story so far!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Epiphany**

_Previously_

_..._

_"I did! I already- I... I..." Tess began to shake, backing up slowly, gripping at her head as it exploded in pain. But Max's eyes weren't locked on her face, or her pain, or anything else along those lines._

_They were locked onto her left hand as it tapped away against Tess' leg..._

_Then, quick as a cobra, Max struck as his lips meshed to hers in a passionate dance. There was lust, and just a touch of the love the two had shared in a past life, but that wasn't what it was about, even as they ate at each other's faces, as her arms wrapped around his neck and his around her waist._

_Tess realized that quickly and pulled away as if burned, but it was too late._

_Max had made the connection and, in her agitate state, with her defenses down, he'd seen into her mind, into her memories. Tess backed away and glanced up at him with a tinge of fear as realization, followed by anger, founded themselves on the former king's face as a cold fury overtook him._

_Because, he now knew, without a doubt, that it hadn't been Tess that had dealt the final blow that ended the life of Alex Whitman._

_..._

"Max..." Tess began, but he was already out the door, fuming. As the door slammed against the wall, Philip and Diane jumped slightly. The loved their son to death, but they would be lying if they said he wasn't scaring them right now.

"Max!" Tess called out again, chasing after him.

"I'm going to _kill_ him!" Max growled out. The air shook as the heat in the house plummeted.

The Evans exchanged fearful looks at the words, Jesse appeared alarmed, while Isabel rounded on Tess, sure that the blond had done something to her brother.

"Max, you can't-" Tess began.

Max swerved around to face her faster than most humans could blink.

"He _framed_ you, Tess! He _framed_ you for murder! I am going to tear him limb from-"

"HE DOESN'T KNOW, DAMN IT!" Tess thundered, shutting Max up on the spot.

In an instant, he went from beat-red to confused and lost.

"Wha... What? What do you mean, he doesn't know? He was there!"

"He remembered what_ I_ wanted him to remember." Tess admitted.

Max stuttered for the next few seconds, lost for words, eyes darting around everywhere, trying to find meaning in the sea of confusion. Finally, his eyes snapped back on Tess and, when they did, they were lit with the same cold fury once more.

"Why the hell would you-"

"He's my _brother_, Max! I think you know exactly what that means!" Tess snapped with a sideways look at Isabel, who was slowly catching on to what the two other hybrids were discussing. And, quite frankly, it made her disgust in Tess grow tenfold.

How dare that bitch blame Kyle for the murder_ she_ had committed? And how dare Max believe that stupid little mindwarping slut?

Max's eyes wavered towards Isabel, and softly, he replied. "You'd do anything for them."

"Exactly. Besides, he may have dealt the final blow but the road up the block was all _my_ doing, and I swear, Max, I don't give a flipping shit if you were my King in another lifetime, if you try to tell him about this-"

Max's head snapped back towards Tess so fast it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash.

"The others have to know!"

"You aren't going to tell them a damn thing!"

"What are you going to do? Mindrape me into submission?!"

"If you tell him, it will _destroy_ him!"

"Max, You can't honestly tell me you believe her after all the lies she's told!" Isabel, fed up, finally cut in.

"She didn't tell me, I forced it out." Max snapped right back.

Isabel arched an eyebrow.

"How exactly did you pull that one off?"

Max froze. The guilt on his face was quickly tangible, followed by the quick scarlet blush that crawled up his throat.

"You... Oh." Isabel, momentarily stunned, fell into silence.

Silence.

"So... Who wants coffee?" Diane announced with an overly cheerful smile that gave her the appearance of being constipated as she clapped her hands together.

Incredulous eyes met hers.

"Me. Mixed with alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol. Come to think of it, just alcohol would be fine." Jesse interjected.

Diane nodded and turned to her husband. Silently, he nodded in agreement. His eyes, however, were locked on Tess. without a doubt, he now knew she was involved in whatever it was Max and Isabel were involved in. He was trying to absorb in the information, but it was too much. A king? His adopted son was a king? Or, he was a king, even if he currently wasn't one? And someone had framed Tess for murder, or, technically, he hadn't framed her because Tess made him frame her.

Philip's head suddenly filled with the dull ache of a headache.

Max rounded on Tess once more.

"Who mindwarped Alex, Tess?" he demanded.

Isabel, and Tess, for that matter, turned to look at him incredulously.

"I already told you, damn it! I DID IT! How many damn times do I have to confess that it was-"

"It couldn't have been you, and you know it!"

"Max, it was her! Honestly, what are you trying to prove?"

Max turned to look at his sister.

"I checked the dates, Issy. Alex went off for his little 'vacation' in 'Sweden' when me and Tess were in New York! It physically couldn't have been her! ANd before you say, 'she programmed him before she left', Tess doesn't have the mental power to control someone else for a solid two months!" Max made his argument.

"You're trying to see innocence where there isn't any, Max. She's guilty! You accepted it before, why not now?"

"Because... It doesn't... It doesn't feel right. I now we're missing something."

Philip was trying to follow. So far, what he got was the following: Alex Whitman, the poor boy that had been killed last year in a tragic car crash, hadn't gone to Sweden at all. Someone had taken over his mind and made him do... Something for a solid two months. Tess, apparently, was telepathic or something along those terms and was the main suspect for the crime. Hmm.

Tess frowned.

"We never went to New York, Max..." she told him slowly.

All eyes snapped towards her as Max's eyes widened with a sudden realization. Tess didn't have the power to control someone else for a solid two months from a distance before making them spontaneously forget, but someone else they knew did. Someone short, with dark hair, and an annoying voice that made you want to just strangle him. It was at that moment that he realized that Alex hadn't been mindwarped all.

He'd been mind_raped_. And, apparently, so had Tess.

"Nicholas." he growled out as his fists clenched. Exchanging a look with Isabel, he saw as her own eyes widened with Max's epiphany.

* * *

a/n: I know that it looks like I'm stating Kyle killed Alex, abliet accidentally. However, not everything is as it seems!

Please review!


	3. All in the Eyes

A/N: Fair warning, I was slightly pissed when I wrote this. As I've noted over the years, my current attitude always contributed to my writing, so...

Thanks goes to **MinniHowl** and **Mony19** for reviewing this story!

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**All in the Eyes**

_Previously_

_..._

_Tess frowned_

_"We never went to New York, Max..." she told him slowly._

_All eyes snapped towards her as Max's eyes widened with a sudden realization. Tess didn't have the power to control someone else for a solid two months from a distance before making them spontaneously forget, but someone else they knew did. Someone short, with dark hair, and an annoying voice that made you want to just strangle him. It was at that moment that he realized that Alex hadn't been mindwarped all._

_He'd been mind**raped.** And, apparently, so had Tess._

_"Nicholas." he growled out as his fists clenched. Exchanging a look with Isabel, he saw as her own eyes widened with Max's epiphany._

_..._

Tess blinked several times. Nicholas? What did that short little fuck have to do with all of this? Last time Tess checked, she blew him up. Literally. Lit him aflame with a dragon's breath.

"Max, Nicholas is. Well. Dead. He's been dead for a while." Tess told him condescendingly, wondering slightly if someone had toyed with Max's mind when she was away.

"Who's Nicholas?" Philip questioned, even as he sipped(read gulped) at the beer his wife had handed him. Normally, Philip wasn't much a fan of alcoholic beverages. But, at the moment, he was trying to wrap his mind around the current issues at hand.

What were his children involved in?

"It doesn't matter, he's-"

"Alive." Max interrupted. Tess shot him a look.

"Max, he's dead. He's been dead for months."

"He was in New York. Remember? We went to New York, Tess. You and me, together, with Lonnie and Rath." Max reminded her.

"Vilandra and Rath have been dead for over fifty years, Max." Tess stated in response.

Max exchanged a loaded look with his sister.

"You don't seriously think-" Isabel, sceptical, began.

"After Lonnie tried to murder me, Tess and I got separated. I found her in the middle of an abandoned warehouse, and she told me they tried to break into her mind. What if Lonnie and Nicholas actually succeeded?" Max pointed out.

"Murder?" Diane's eyes went wide. Her son had run off to New York, only t have a mysterious woman named 'Lonnie' try to kill him, and he hadn't bothered to mention this to them?

"Max, what on earth are you talking about!" Tess snapped.

Max turned to her.

"Last year. New York. The Summit. Me, you, Larek? Don't you remember? Try to remember. We went to New York with Lonnie and Rath for a summit. Nicholas was there. He wanted the Granolith, and I told him to go screw himself. Don't you remember, Tess?" Max was practically pleading with her to remember.

Instead, however, Tess walked up to him, grabbed him by the chin, and stared into his eyes with increased suspicion, tilting his head this way and that way.

"No red eyes..." she finally muttered, much to Max's confusion. Then, she sniffed him. Downright _sniffed_. It didn't get any weirder than that. At long last, she let him go and backed away, still looking at him oddly. "Well, it's not drugs that's making you hallucinate odd events that never took place, and it certainly isn't' me, so... Hmm." Tess wondered to herself.

"Please, drop the act, you bitch." Isabel growled, much to her parents surprise. She _never_ swore. The Max swearing thing was slightly off, but, considering his attitude all year long, it wasn't that surprising. Isabel, on the other hand...

Tess arched an eyebrow.

"What act?!" she demanded.

"The innocent act where you sit there and pretend you and Max never went to that damn summit with my psychotic... Twin." Isabel amended, remembering the presence of her parents. At least _she_ remembered, unlike Max, who continued to let shit pour out of that mouth of his.

"You have a twin?" Jesse, flabbergasted, spoke up. Another secret to add to his wife's growing list, he decided... Those divorce papers he kept wondering if he should file entered the forefront of his mind. He loved Isabel, he truly did- but the lies. So many lies. How the hell could he ever look at her with trust again? And, if he couldn't trust her... How could he be a good husband, lover, partner in life?

How could any relationship work, regardless of the love they shared... If trust in and of itself was virtually impossible for him to feel towards her ever again.

Isabel shrugged to the question, as if having a twin- another twin, other than Max- was something completely ordinary and not worth commenting on.

"Kind of. Wears dark makeup. Tattoos. Heavy New York accent. Calls herself Lonnie." Isabel answered.

"Tried to kill me and kidnapped Tess." Max added 'helpfully'.

"I was not kidnapped!"

"You've been kidnapped multiple times, Tess..."

"Name one."

"Whitaker."

"... Name another!"

"Obviously, Nicholas. And Lonnie. And Rath."

"Nicholas is dead, and there is no 'Lonnie' or 'Rath', Max!"

"They argue like an old married couple..." Diane whispered to her husband. Unfortunately, Tess heard.

"We _are_ an old married couple!" she snapped before rounding back on her past-husband. "Technically speaking." she amended, ignoring the confused looks.

"I'm pretty sure the marriage vows read 'until death do us part' and, in case you failed to notice, Tess, we died!" Max corrected her.

"Died!" both parents exclaimed, alarmed.

Isabel face-palmed.

Max stuttered. Oops. That one wasn't suppose to slip out. He blamed Tess. Right. Tess. Back to the issue at hand. Max turned to her, lifted his hands slowly, and started to approach.

"What are you doing?" Tess, fearfully, backed away. Max had been acting odd since her return. There was really no telling what he was up to.

"I'm gonna heal you." Max's response was simple and ordinary. At least, for him it was. But, there was something about his tone, the glint in his eyes, the way he was treading slowly towards her as if she was a wounded wild beast...

"What part of me?" Tess questioned, suspicion leaking into her voice. She seriously doubted he was here to heal her leg.

Max considered what to tell her for a second, before settling on the truth. If he said leg then aimed elsewhere, the former king of Antar was fairly certain he'd get flung across the room.

"Mind."

Tess groaned. Loudly. She tossed her head back, ran her fingers through her hair, then looked up to glare at Max.

"No one messed with my mind, Max! I **betrayed** you! End. Of. Story!" Tess growled.

"Then there's no harm done in me healing you." then, the bastard had the nerve to smirk at her victoriously, blatantly declaring how he had 'outsmarted' her.

Meanwhile, Diane rebelled in her own victory. She knew her son could heal, she knew it! Philip, on the other hand, was also silently thrilled despite the situation. True, everything was downright confusing But, at least for once his children weren't purposefully keeping secrets from him.

"Max, this is pointless." Isabel sighed. At this point, she wasn't sure whether Tess was pulling an elaborate sham or if her brother really was this damn delusional. Considering Tess seemed to agree to the delusional theory, Isabel was leaning towards the latter.

"Then there won't be any harm done if I heal her, will the-"

"Oh for the love of Niara, just do it already and get it over wi-"

Max didn't need to be told twice. Before Tess could even finish her sentence, his hands, glowing white and pure, (which was the first indication something was truly wrong since his healing touch usually didn't glow like that unless there was something seriously wrong) were on either side of her skull, practically cupping her face in his palms.

The glow was the first indication.

The second was when Tess gave out a blood-curdling scream that awoke the sleeping Zan, who had slept through an entire screaming match way too peacefully, on the couch.

The third was when both Max and Tess were tossed back by an invisible force.

The main indicator, however, and the only thing that actually succeeded in convincing Isabel that perhaps there was more to all of this than met the eye, was when Tess looked up, gave and inhuman snarl, and, like a savage beast, launched herself at Max, her eyes a pure obsidian black the entire time.


End file.
